Latest Articles - June 2016

What's the Connection Between Hyperglycemia and Diabetes?

By: Brian Wu

The term used to describe high blood glucose or blood sugar is hyperglycemia.

When we eat food, the carbohydrate in food breaks down into sugar and goes into the bloodstream. The pancreas releases insulin when this happens.

Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas that "unlocks" the body's cells, allowing the sugar go from the blood and into the cells. The cells in the body use this sugar for energy.

When the body does not make any or enough insulin, or when the cells are unable to use the insulin correctly, blood sugar levels go up.

Chronic fatigue syndrome: Could altered gut bacteria be a cause?

By: Honor Whiteman

What causes chronic fatigue syndrome? The answer to this question continues to baffle researchers, so much so that some have even questioned whether the condition exists. Now, a new study by researchers from Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, may have shed light on a biological cause, after finding that patients with chronic fatigue have an altered gut microbiome.

Senior author Maureen Hanson, of the Departments of Molecular Biology and Genetics and Microbiology at Cornell, and colleagues publish their findings in the journal Microbiome.

Also referred to as myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a condition characterized by extreme fatigue that does not improve with rest.

Aside from persistent fatigue, symptoms used to diagnose ME/CFS include unrefreshing sleep, headache, joint pain, sore throat, tender lymph nodes in the neck or armpits, problems with concentration and memory, and severe exhaustion and sickness after exercise or mental exertion.

Borderline Diabetes: What You Need to Know

By: Markus Magill

The term borderline diabetes refers to a condition called prediabetes. Prediabetes is a condition in which blood sugar levels are higher than normal but not high enough to be classed as type 2 diabetes.

Prediabetes is to be considered a risk factor for type 2 diabetes. It is estimated that 10 to 23 percent of people with prediabetes will go on to develop type 2 diabetes within 5 years.

Prediabetes can be accompanied by other risk factors. It is associated with conditions such as obesity, especially abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, high blood fat levels and low levels of "good" cholesterol.

When these risk factors "cluster" together in a person, there is a higher risk of not just type 2 diabetes but heart disease and stroke as well.

Are robots the future of surgery, or a pricey marketing gimmick?

By: David McNamee

Luke Skywalker had his amputated hand repaired by one. The Transformers had one that turned into an ambulance. And they have been among us on Earth, operating quietly since 1985. Robot surgeons are nothing new and they are not science fiction, though the real-life machines may not be instantly familiar to Star Wars fans. Recently, however, research has questioned whether there is evidence to support robot-assisted surgery. We investigate the issue.

In 1985, the PUMA 560 robotic surgical arm successfully assisted in a delicate neurosurgical biopsy. This marked the first documented robot-assisted surgery. Two years later, the first laparoscopic procedure - a cholecystectomy - was performed using the robotic system, and in 1988, PUMA was used to perform transurethral resection.

These landmark surgeries opened up the potential for a greater degree of precision in minimally invasive surgeries through the steady, mechanical hand of the robot.

By 1990, the first robot approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) - Computer Motion's AESOP system - was assisting in endoscopic surgery.